The names of most of the composers on this disc were
new to me, and of those that weren’t I had to dredge deep in the memory
bank to come up with any knowledge of them. I was impressed to find
a brief reference to Philippe de Monte in a set of university notes
from long, long ago, but it has to be said that what I had written about
him didn’t help me at all in preparing this review!
The expression Rudolphinian Prague refers to the Holy
Roman Emperor Rudolph II (1552-1612). His reign was a turbulent one,
with considerable unrest in Bohemia and elsewhere. In 1583 he decided
to move his court to Prague where he remained until his death. He would
appear to have been very encouraging towards all kind of musical activity
– he didn’t show the same tolerance towards religious freedom – and
the Court Orchestra, under the direction of Philippe de Monte, was only
one of a large number of groups, vocal and instrumental, which flourished
in Prague during the period.
This disc is one of two devoted to the music to be
heard in Prague in the time of Rudolph II. A mass and a requiem by de
Monte feature on the other disc, but the present one contains only instrumental
music. The ensemble is made up of viols and wind instruments including
crumhorns and recorders. There is no percussion. The disc opens in stirring
style with the Canzon duodecimi toni by Hassler, an antiphonal piece
where the piercing crumhorns alternate with the altogether sweeter string
sonorities. There is considerable melodic freshness as well as the expected
rhythmic vitality and variety are the primary feature of four short
dances by Valerius Otto, one of the many composers whose names were
new to me. The principal sonority here is that of the recorder. Of the
other works the piece by Cilese is particularly sonorous, imitative
in style at the outset, and quite varied. The final piece in the series
by Bonelli has a certain grandeur about it which is really quite impressive;
one might easily think it a later work than it actually is. The short
piece by Salomone Rossi could almost be another movement from Warlock’s
Capriol Suite.
This is primarily dance music or arrangements of vocal
pieces. There is little variety of mood from one piece to the next,
and after a while one is happy when the crumhorns or the early trombones
are playing because they bring to the music a certain colour when the
musical material itself is sometimes rather pale. There is no drama
in this music, nothing which tends toward the spectacular, and though
this is simply how it is and isn’t meant as a criticism it doesn’t always
make for very compelling listening.
The music is very well played, however, with excellent
intonation and as far as one can tell, the musicians, who are set in
a natural and pleasing acoustic, are totally at one with the style.
I found myself wishing for more sparkle and fire, but in the end sparkle
and fire are far from the most important ingredients here.
This is a disc to listen to in short bursts, then,
rather from beginning to end. Careful attention to a particular piece,
perhaps repeated listening, does bring rewards. The second of Gussago’s
pieces is a good example of this: like all the music on this disc it’s
an undemanding listen, but with its gentle string sonorities it has
a charm which becomes very appealing once one is tuned into it. Of course,
of these composers, everyone has heard of Giovanni Gabrieli, and it’s
interesting to note that his pieces are head and shoulders above the
rest in terms of musical interest and content.
William Hedley
Symposium Musicum directed
by Miloslav Klement